how to prepare for residency interviews

This article elaborates how to equip yourself with knowledge for residency interviews and explains you about the necessary rules for interviewing. As you will proceed towards your schedules, it will aid you in your decision making. The most practical and wise point is to be noted down. Have a detailed look at this part, talk to people who have gone through all this, as resource material, and lots of home research to get yourself completely prepared. The more knowledge you have, the more confident you are. It will relax you mentally as you got a clear idea and enough hold on the things.

Practical Interviewing:

A practical demo with friends or classmates would aid you a lot in gaining confidence and lessens the chances of mistakes that might occur during the interview.

Mock interview: Take the help of someone like a professor or the member of student Affairs department to conduct your mock interview. Make it like a real mock paper, following the same pattern as if it is a real paper and provide correct answers to those questions.

Do have some spare copies of your resume, your results transcripts, personal information and write specific questions you want to answer, a writing pad to note down the necessary details. (Get some good appealing portfolio)

It is better if you dress up like you are having an actual interview, to experience the practicality.

Something About Yourself:

Write down all your expertise, your skills, your positive talents, your achievements to answer basic questions asked in an interview. Your half of the interview is answered if you have done this homework.

Best 5 Things To Do: These 5 things are useful for any of your interviews that others would know about you.

How you are a different candidate from others?

What special abilities you have?

Make a precise list of the things you would be needing in your residency program: write them down according to most important to least important.

Give remarks to your accomplished needs/wants at the end of each schedule

Finally, compare the remarks and ratings of your each and every schedule to reach some conclusion.

Have a detailed look at your own personal school file.

Know each program and its importance:

Have lots of knowledge about each residency program:

Go through all the information provided to you.

Surf on the internet to have a look at the program’s website.

Get an interview scheduled if it is not mentioned.

Get a detailed description of necessary things needed on the day of the interview.

You should know the people interviewing you before you go (do a web search)

Talk to the fresh graduates about the programs or to whom you know.

Have a sound knowledge about the specialty’s culture:

What the experts really do in the practical field?

What types of process are involved?

What is their perception in front of other experts?

Is there any training’s offered to them?

What are the examination requirements of the program?

How they rate or think about the specialty’s importance?

How you should look ?

Dress should always be decent, easy, good color and clean.

Your looks should portray a picture of a professional physician not a medical student.

Men, do not wear suits and nothing casual jeans, etc.

Bold blue or gray color, thin striped

White or light blue shirt.

A formal tie: following small patterns, strips (navy or red)

Wear almost no jewelry

Neat haircut and clean shave

Women can wear a nice formal pants, skirts and suit.

Bolder colors are preferred like dark gray, dark blue etc.

Plain white or off-white top

Simple easy less noisy shoes

Wear almost no jewelry.

A smooth light make up and a good fragrance would work.

Get yourself prepared for uncertain rain etc, so an umbrella and a raincoat is must, so your dressing do not get spoiled.

Write down preferred questions.

According to the needs and wants you to list down earlier, get enough knowledge about them during the visit.

Here are few possible questions:

Success rate of graduate students, board marks, job searching etc.

Is there any chances of research programs?

The current value of the program and hospital: Some staff member ever left the program?

The status of in practice residents: anyone left the program?

How residents are appreciated? who does so? What is the feedback rate?

Teaching option?

Is there any expected changes in coming three years?

How this program is different from others?

Make a list of specific questions you want to ask for resident:

How clinical faculty contacts with students?

How much an internee gets work? Is it fixed?

What kind of clinical activities I would experience?

How their schedule works?

What is the number of patients I would be taking care of ?

Are you satisfied? Was it a good experience for you?

Residents socializing activities are in groups or individual?

Any Extra activities?

Questions to avoid

A few things you should keep in mind that are considered negative in an interview. Almost all the necessary information would be given to by sending your documents or during orientation. If you did not receive any such thing, ask Education office about it.

Pay

Holidays

Perks

Competition

Other medical leave

Questions you should expect

Write down all the questions that you think are expected from the interviewer. Go through their answers once before the interview. Here are a few questions that can be somehow helpful to you in preparing yourself for an interview.

How are you doing today?

Do you want to ask something? (yes….)

A brief introduction about yourself/

What are your positive and negative points?

Why you want to opt for this program?

What else you expect from this program?

Why you want to study with us?

What else you consider regarding this program? How many interviews you already come up to?

Why we would select you? What’s new you can add up in the program?

How confident are you in getting started as an internee?

A Few lines about how we would interact with you?

A brief explanation of all the things written in your resume.

How about a particular lack of score in your result?

Where you see yourself standing in next 5 or 10 years?

What else you do other than studies?

Discuss any case you suffered from, if you was in clinic.

Did any patient taught you something?

How you would you react if you find your senior acting in a wrong way?